If you are not familiar with the programme, it is based on two friends, Stinky and Dirty (a bin lorry and JCB), who on their adventures are faced with problems and situations that they need to overcome. The premise of the series is to teach children to solve problems or realise opportunities by asking ‘What if?’ (accompanied by a catchy tune!) in order to walk through scenarios and outcomes to decide on an appropriate course of action.
Although very simple, it is an extremely useful tool that can be used in the world of risk management to not only make your business more resilient, but to exploit opportunities as well. For example, senior leaders could be asking:
- What if (any key person / team) left?
- What if we were victim to a ransomware attack?
- What if we tried to automate and invest in technology more?
- What if we changed the pricing of our products?
- What if our sales forecasts don’t materialise?
- What if our key supplier suffered some form of denial of service?
- What if we increased staff benefits?
- What if we invested more in training and development?
‘What if’ scenario testing can be used against all categories of risk that an organisation faces. The examples above relate to people, cyber, technology, financial resources and supplier management. Do you know what your risks are and where they lie?
Using ‘what if’ may seem overly simple, but it is an effective and engaging way to work through issues and decide upon courses of action to manage risk or realise opportunities.
Do you currently use such a scenario method to drive out and identify risks and opportunities?
‘What if’ you started......?
How can we help?
For further information on how MacRoberts can assist your firm with risk management and increasing resiliency, please contact our Head of Risk, Phil McCrossan.
